Why We Get Greenwashing Instead of Better Products? The Right to Repair and Rationalism

Back in 2022 Formula 1 announced that starting with 2026 all race cars will only use fully sustainable fuels in other words no new fossil carbon will be burned, instead “the carbon will come from non-food biological sources, genuine municipal waste or even extracted directly from the atmosphere”

In 2023 the calendar of Formula 1 included approximately 150.000 of kilometers of land and air travel in an order that in no way prioritized the reduction of land and air travel. And pretty much all of it is on non-sustainable jet fuel and diesel. If we add all the math the race cars account for 1.9% of the distance traveled by vehicles within the 2023 Formula 1 season, and this does not include the cars and other vehicles of all the visitors flocking to the events.

BMW likes to boast how their cars use up to 20% recycled plastics and how they recycle metal shavings during the manufacturing process. Here’s what they also thought was a good idea. A monthly subscription for heated seats. Basically all the metal hardware, the heating elements and all the wiring, buttons, switches, fuses, relays and software is installed into every car. However to use it, you must pay a subscription. If you don’t pay a subscription, no heated seats for you. Many people live in warm climates. Many may choose not to pay the subscription. This means that many cars will receive a piece of equipment that will never be used. The manufacturing of this equipment of course has an environmental impact. The recycling of this equipment also has an environmental impact. And it’s added weight negatively impacts the fuel efficiency of the vehicle.

KTM motorcycles had a similar idea. They call it “DEMO mode”. They install a very wide array of electronic rider aids and optional features. All of these require their own wiring, chips, sensors and more. But after 1500km they all get deactivated and you can keep using only the ones you pay for. Again we have the production and future recycling of things that will never be used unless the manufacturer receives a profit.

Something else that's an increasing practice among car,truck and even farm equipment manufacturers is to make parts impossible to repair or to fuse multiple parts into one. Parts integral to the operation of the vehicle are purposely welded, sealed, soldered or otherwise made in such a way that they cannot be repaired. We also have Intercoolers fused into intake manifolds and other multi-component assemblies where the failure of one part requires the replacement of the entire assemby resulting in fully functioning components ending up in the trash. The barrier against third party maintenance and repair is further strengthened by using proprietary or prohibitively expensive special tools and software walls that require part registration to restore vehicle functionality.

But car manufacturers aren’t alone in this, tech giants like Apple as well as many other manufacturers of consumer electronics are also experts at greenwashing. Apple for example boasts how their new apple watch is their first carbon neutral product. The wristband has 30% recycled material in it. But they together with many other corporations from multiple different sectors have spent millions on making their products difficult or impossible to repair through methods I already mentioned. They have then spent further millions to lobby against the “right to repair” legislation in order to keep their devices unrepairable and force consumers to buy new ones because the repair of said devices is often made purposely as expensive as a new device. And as we know, making new devices and recycling old ones both have an environmental impact. And the millions spent on making devices unrepairable and the millions spent on lobbying could have easily been spent on making devices more easy to repair and empowering consumers to repair them themselves. This would have been a truly measurable positive impact for the environment but it would also negatively impact future profits of the company, meaning that it would essentially be an act of charity and Apple, BMW, KTM, Formula 1 and all of the other corporations and businesses you can think off, none of them are charities.

So the problem with our world is that it is profit based and ruled by giant corporations who have so much money and power that they can bend governments and legislation to their will. Following this line of thinking we reach a conclusion that the solution is to dismantle capitalism and embrace communism while setting environmental well-being as the number 1 priority. A world of harmony and happiness shall then ensue?

A special thank you to my patrons:
Daniel
Pepe
Brian Alvarez
Peter Della Flora
Dave Westwood
Joe C
Zwoa Meda Beda
Toma Marini
Cole Philips

#d4a #righttorepair #sustainability

00:00 Greenwashing examples
04:29 Repairing is more sustainable
07:12 The problem is capitalism?
09:57 The smoker analogy
15:36 The rational thing to do

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